Nicholas 'Nick' Nightingale is a short, slightly handsome man with a sharp tongue and a forceful personality. He has dark hair and eyes, pale skin, and always wears a navy blue trench coat. There is something rather sinister about him, though he cleans up well, has a charming way of speaking, and is funny and good with people. Like all bookhounds, he is constantly found reading.

He often plays with an ivory-handled straight razor that belonged to his father, and those who know him can judge his state of mind by it. When he is focused, he is clean-shaven. When he is relaxed, he forgoes shaving. When he is nervous, he sometimes has small bits of plaster on his face or fingers, where he has cut himself accidentally.


BACKGROUND
Nick is an only child, raised by his uncle Cedric after the untimely death of Nick’s parents when Nick was six. Uncle Cedric, a bookseller by trade, was a widower, and had no children of his own. Uncle Cedric raised Nick as best he could, teaching Nick what he knew about the buying and selling of books. Nick helped out in his uncle’s shop, acting as his apprentice.

Uncle Cedric took it upon himself to supplement Nick’s public school education by teaching him a great deal about literature, linguistics, and history. The young Nick learned fast, though he would frequently daydream of a life less ordinary. He longed to leap into the pages of R.L Stevenson, of Kipling, of Jules Verne, and leave his hum-drum existence as a bookman’s apprentice behind.

When the Great War began, Nick enthusiastically joined the Army. Nick’s education, and especially his knowledge of French and German, made him an easy candidate for officer training, and after a brief stint in the OTC at Oxford, Nick went overseas as a 2nd Lieutenant.

Nick had always had a nose for trouble, and he quickly developed a reputation for being able to know when to duck and cover. As a result, he managed to scrape through the war alive, with nary a scratch on him. Other soldiers under his command were not so fortunate, and their deaths weigh on his conscience to this day. He did bring enough men back alive to be awarded with a drawer full of medals.

Nick returned from the war a changed man, hardened and somehow tainted by the things he had seen and done. He was accepted into Oxford University, where he excelled at his classes, but spent much of his time making contacts with various vagabonds and ne’er-do-wells, dabbling in occultism and larceny before being brought up on burglary charges and kicked out of school, just shy of graduation.

Uncle Cedric died shortly after Nick's expulsion, and left Nick, to whom he was estranged, nothing in his will.

More jaded and cynical than ever, Nick became engaged in several more risky enterprises, always staying one step ahead of the law. However, his latest brush with ‘the filth’ has scared him straight, at least for the time being. He has lately become employed as a book scout, travelling around the city and countryside in search of deals and auctions.


CONTACTS
‘Arty’ Smith (The Knowledge) – Nick’s right-hand man is a cockney Cabman named Roger Lee Smith, also known as ‘The Artful Roger’, or simply ‘Arty’.  Arty gets along very well with Nick, and the two frequently take the piss out of each other. They are good friends, and can often be found together at the local boozer. Arty is careful to never have too many, as he takes his vocation very seriously, it being rather a point of pride for him. Arty is known as quite a ladies’ man, and is well-respected within the East End.

Barbara Ramsey (Occult) – A dilettante and a former lover of Nick’s. Barbara desperately wants to find evidence of the supernatural, and takes great pride in knowing more than her peers about the secret history of the world. She is quite pretty and charismatic, though vain and rather snobbish. She is the leader of a small cult or coven of sorts, called the ‘Ninth Horizon’, one filled with dozens of admirers who are only too happy to light her cigarettes or pick up the cheque for dinner, for the mere privilege of being in her presence.

Nigel Bragg (Textual Analysis) – Nigel is a school-mate of Nick’s. Nick n’ Nigel were practically inseparable during their years at the University of London. Nigel is a fence with an anarchistic bent, a well-read pseudo-revolutionary who uses lofty words and philosophies to justify his devious and criminal enterprises. He and Nick share a great love of books, and became interested in the occult during their school years; at least, enough to charm their way into various social circles. Nigel doesn’t really believe in the supernatural, but thinks it a good way to bluff his way into girls’ knickers. It is to Nigel that Nick turns to when he wants to sell books that he cannot sell to a more reputable buyer. Nigel can also be counted upon to procure items of dubious legality, such as guns and burglary tools.